It's happened again: American blood spilled on American soil by a
radical Islamic gunman in what is the deadliest terrorist attack since
9/11.

The victims, shot down at an Orlando nightclub, were apparently
targeted because of their sexual identity. Regardless of our country's
profound differences on policies, lifestyles, religious beliefs, or
anything else, we must make clear that no American -- not one -- should
fear being attacked by a terrorist for any reason. Unfortunately, the attacks on U.S. soil have only grown in this
administration's refusal to call them what they are -- Islamic
terrorism. The gunman, a homegrown extremist who reportedly pledged his
allegiance to ISIS before his bloody rampage, left little doubt about
his motivation -- a motivation the president still refuses to confront.
Almost eight years into his now fatal agenda of political correctness,
President Obama couldn't even bring himself to say the words "radical
Islam" in the speech following the attack. It was a stunning omission,
one that left viewers' mouths ajar. Donald Trump, who is both revered
and reviled for his tough talk on Muslims, argued the president should
resign in disgrace. "People cannot... believe that President Obama is
acting the way he acts and can't even mention the words 'radical Islamic
terrorism.' There's something going on. It's inconceivable. There's
something going on."

According to President Obama, there is no evidence that this awful man (whose name I refuse to address) was directed by a larger terrorist network. If anything, it looks like he was a "lone wolf" who was influenced by material over the internet.

But that's not the point of this post. The point is that days before the tragedy, FRC's Washington Update was attacking Target for its trans-inclusive policy:

Target's slogan is "Expect more." And when it comes to safety,
customers do. That's why Americans are so upset with the company's
outrageous April policy that threw open the changing room and bathroom
doors to anyone of either sex. Almost immediately, angry calls started
streaming in to stores, eventually ballooning into a nationwide protest
of more than 1.3 million people. If other CEOs were considering similar changes, they saw the heat Target was taking and backed off. Now, almost two months into their transgender free-for-all, the
outcry shows no signs of dying down. At yesterday's Target shareholders
meeting in Costa Mesa, protestors filled the streets
outside with signs to boycott the store. "We're not afraid of
transgender people," one of the demonstrators explained. "I've got nine
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and I'm worried that perverts
will pretend to be women so they can get into women's restrooms."

Of course there has been no proof that Target's trans-inclusive policy has opened the door to men attacking little girls in the ladies room, but FRC won't talk about that. Nor will it mention the simple fact that the bathroom predator talking point is an ugly myth designed to denigrate the transgender community, no matter the explanation folks try to trot out while pushing it.

Last but not least, another one of FRC's Washington Update was attacking the Pentagon for celebrating gay pride month with distortions and anecdotal horror stories:

It probably feels like every day is "gay pride day" in the Obama
military, but yesterday, it came with cake. In the big courtyard inside
the Pentagon's five rings, the Obama administration continued the
five-year rainbow parade it started with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't
Tell." As part of June's LGBT month, Secretary Ray Mabus tried to
persuade people what the research doesn't: that sexualizing the military
is the greatest thing to happen to America's force. In direct defiance to the quantifiable data on suicide, retention,
recruitment, morale, job dissatisfaction, and sexual assault, Mabus
argued that anyone who opposed open homosexuality in the ranks (which
most military leaders did) is "exactly the same flawed logic as those
who had earlier opposed racial integration or gender integration,
claiming that policies of inclusion would erode the war fighting
capabilities of the United States. That's a suggestion that is not only
an insult to the professionalism of our armed forces, but it undermines
our core values as service men and women and as Americans."

. . . The administration likes to say, as Mabus implied Wednesday, that
"discriminate" has no place in America's armed forces. Tell that to
Christians, who are being shown the door the Pentagon opened to LGBT
activists. Marginalizing faith has serious long-term consequences, as we
learned 50 years ago in the public schools. Now the same thing is
happening in the military, and what's the result? We're celebrating gay
pride at the expense of American pride

The sad point of this entire post is there is no proof that that man who perpetrated the tragedy in Orlando was a part of any Islamic terrorist group. However, we do know that he targeted the lgbt community. He went to a gay nightclub and cut down lots of innocent people. To say that homophobia had nothing to do with his attack is just plain ignorant.

I fail to see how FRC can preach about people not living in fear while simultaneously peddling lies and rhetoric which causes folks to live in fear. Transgender men and women are targeted because of the "bathroom predator" lie FRC is pushing. Gays and lesbians who serve in the military have to deal with prejudices and hate sparked by lies that they are "sexualizing" the military and forcing people of faith out the door.

The fact that FRC denounced the hatred this awful killer showed for the lgbt community but will ignore the fact that itself peddles that same type of hatred, albeit in a more agreeable but still nasty form, is astounding.

And not in a good way.

When FRC points the finger at "radical Islam" as the cause of the Orlando tragedy, it should pay attention to the three other fingers point back at it.

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About Me

Alvin McEwen is 45-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.